BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Lowers Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its Western Digital stake by 59.5% in the first quarter, selling 156,410 shares and ending with 106,598 shares worth about $28.8 million.
• Western Digital reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 versus $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year. The company also issued Q4 2026 EPS guidance of 3.100-3.400.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish despite mixed insider selling, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $450.46.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 59.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,598 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 156,410 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Western Digital were worth $28,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $746.23 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.66 and a 12 month high of $799.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $487.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.17. The company has a market cap of $257.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.55 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $450.46.

Key Western Digital News

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from surging demand tied to AI data centers and cloud storage, which is boosting investor confidence in the company’s earnings outlook. Western Digital stock surges on AI demand; Morgan Stanley bullish on WDC
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its view on WDC, reinforcing the idea that the stock still has room to run after the recent rally. Morgan Stanley Raises Price Target on Western Digital (WDC). Here is Why
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s earnings were said to nearly double on strong AI and cloud demand, which supports the recent move up in the shares. Western Digital Earnings Nearly Double on AI, Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s comments about unavoidable memory price hikes helped lift the broader memory/storage group, including WDC, by improving the pricing backdrop for the industry. SanDisk Jumps 11%, Western Digital Rises 7% After Apple Flags “Unavoidable” Memory Price Hikes

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.

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